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dwindling

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dwindling


  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Dwindle  \Dwin"dle\,  v.  i.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Dwindled};  p.  pr  &  vb 
  n.  {Dwindling}.]  [From  OE  dwinen  to  languish,  waste  away 
  AS  dw[=i]nan;  akin  to  LG  dwinen,  D.  dwijnen  to  vanish, 
  Icel.  dv[=i]na  to  cease,  dwindle,  Sw  tvina;  of  uncertain 
  origin.  The  suffix  -le,  preceded  by  d  excrescent  after  n,  is 
  added  to  the  root  with  a  diminutive  force.] 
  To  diminish;  to  become  less  to  shrink;  to  waste  or  consume 
  away  to  become  degenerate;  to  fall  away 
 
  Weary  sennights  nine  times  nine  Shall  he  dwindle,  peak 
  and  pine.  --Shak. 
 
  Religious  societies,  though  begun  with  excellent 
  intentions,  are  said  to  have  dwindled  into  factious 
  clubs.  --Swift. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  dwindling 
  adj  :  gradually  decreasing  until  little  remains  [syn:  {tapering}, 
  {tapering  off}] 
  n  :  a  becoming  gradually  less  "there  is  no  greater  sadness  that 
  the  dwindling  away  of  a  family"  [syn:  {dwindling  away}] 




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